Under the Sea
by ginnyrules27
Summary: After a five-year-old Dudley pushes Harry into the ocean, the BWL is rescued by a young mermaid and her father; who allow Harry to become a part of their family. After a constant stream of disasters, can the family stand the test of time or will outside forces cause barriers that will cause the family to slowly split apart at the seams?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A/N: I own nothing!

Harry should have known something was up when the Dursleys brought him along on their trip to Denmark. But the five-year-old was too excited to question the niceness of his relations.

"Fweak," Dudley spat as they walked along the beach three weeks into their visit. Harry frowned; he'd been better about his freakishness. Uncle Vernon even commented on it when he wasn't commenting on how backwards and primitive these Danes were ("I mean really. No hotels at all! They expect us to stay at an _inn!_) and Aunt Petunia _smiled_ at him last night. But Dudley still hated him.

"Dudley, look at that wock!" Harry smiled and pointed at a strange looking rock a ways away. "Wace you to it!"

Dudley rolled his eyes but still ran with his cousin, resulting in him becoming red-faced and out of breath while Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement at beating Dudley in a race.

"Bet your fweakishness caused you to win!" Dudley exclaimed. "I'm telling Dad!"

Harry wasn't listening as he climbed on the rock to have a better view of the ocean. It was beautiful and calm. It was weird, the way he was attracted to the sea. Maybe that's where his mother and father went. Maybe they were mere-people and not the drunks Uncle Vernon said they were.

"I said," an impatient Dudley said with a glare to Harry's back, "I'm telling Dad! So get going!"

With that, the larger boy shoved Harry off the rock and into the ocean. Despite its shallowness, Harry did not resurface; his glasses being the only part of him to return to the land.

"DAD!" Dudley shouted and ran back to where they were staying. Under the water was a completely different story. Harry was struggling to get back to where he could breathe but Dudley's hand-me-downs were preventing him from returning to his home on land. A glimpse of red was all he saw before Harry's emerald eyes shut.

000

A five-year-old mermaid with red hair did not expect to come across a human when she performed border patrol with her father. That could be the reason why she brought the boy to the Sea King instead of helping him to the surface.

"Daddy!"

"What is it, Ariel?" Triton turned to his youngest and his eyes widened upon seeing the human his daughter was dragging behind her.

"Is he sleeping Daddy?" Ariel asked when she stopped. Triton didn't answer her question; instead he pointed his trident at the human while ignoring his daughter's gasp. Using some of the qualities of the trident, he provided an air bubble for the human. While most humans ate fish and killed his people, Triton would not kill a guppy. Or a child.

"W-whewe am I?" the young boy asked upon awaking. Triton could see emerald green eyes that looked so much like those of his wife Athena. "What happened?"

"Daddy, can he stay with us?" Ariel turned to her father and begged with big eyes. She longed for someone her own age to play with—it stunk being the youngest. No one wanted to play with you. Triton sighed.

"Ariel…" but he cut off upon seeing the hopeful look on the boy's face. Shaking his head, Triton continued. "I can't take this boy away from his family. I know I'd be worried terribly if I was in his parents' place."

"Please!" the boy begged. "I'll do anything. I'll work in youw home, I'll be good. Please don't make me go back to the Duwsleys!"

"Who are they?" Ariel asked before Triton could say anything.

"My aunt and uncle," the boy replied, rather bitterly. "Please!"

Triton sighed. "I'll need to talk with my wife. You can accompany us back to the palace while I talk it over."

"Did he just say 'palace'?" he heard the boy ask Ariel. The air bubble was being controlled by the trident, so Ariel could swim at her normal pace rather than lag behind pushing the bubble.

"Yep! Daddy rules the sea with my mommy!" Ariel said proudly. "I have six older sisters too!"

"Wow!" the boy gasped in amazement, and the tiniest bit of envy only audible to the ear of an experienced parent.

"What about you?" Ariel asked. "What's your name?"

The boy was silent for a moment before answering the little mermaid's question. "Hawwy. My name's Hawwy."

_That's a good name, though he could feel out of place with all the girls' names starting with the letter A, _Triton thought and then shook his head. What was he doing! He couldn't get attached to the child.

"Do you have any siblings?" he could hear Ariel ask.

"No. My aunt and uncle have a son, but he doesn't like me so we don't play," Harry said; trying to keep his tone light. Out of the corner of his eye, Triton could see his youngest frown.

"How old are you?" Ariel asked out of the blue.

"Five," Harry said proudly. Ariel grinned in delight.

"Same here! Oh, we're going to be great friends!"

From what he could see, Triton didn't think the smile on Harry's face could get any bigger; and his own hope of adopting the boy as his own grew.

000

Ariel wasn't the only mermaid curious about young Harry upon the arrival at the palace. All his daughters crowded around the air bubble, demanding to see the boy.

"Back off!" Ariel glared at her sisters, getting in front of the bubble as if to protect Harry from her sisters.

"But Ariel!" Arista whined. "We want to see him too!"

Triton shook his head and left to talk with his wife in their private gardens. Athena turned and smiled at her husband upon his arrival.

"Triton, do you really need to talk about it?" were the first words out of Athena's mouth. "The young boy obviously loves it here. And if his relatives didn't dive in after him, then I say good riddance."

Triton smiled at his queen. Athena was quick to protect her daughters from anything, and despite the fact that she had only seen the boy in passing, Harry seemed to gain the same protection from the Sea Queen.

"How can I take a boy away from his family?" Triton asked.

"By giving him a new one," Athena smiled. "Adella would be happy. She wouldn't be the only raven-haired in the bunch."

Triton and Athena chuckled at that before Triton sighed.

"Are you sure about this dear?" he asked his beloved Queen. "The boy has a family on land and besides he's a human!"

"Triton!" Athena snapped. "Just what are you saying?"

Triton sighed once more before answering.

"It's just that he wouldn't last long down here," he told his wife. "Humans need air to breathe and we live underwater."

Athena rolled her eyes. "You have the power to heal fins dear. Wouldn't you also have the power to create them as well?"

She chuckled at her husband's awestruck expression before they both left the garden in search for Harry. They didn't have long to look. Harry and Ariel were in the princess' room playing; or rather Ariel was helping Harry fend off the others.

"Harry," Triton said, causing the play to stop. "Could you come here please?"

Harry looked once at Ariel before he swam in his air bubble to the Sea King.

"Yes youw majesty?" Harry said rather timidly and Triton frowned. Harry hadn't been that timid when they were at the border.

"Harry," Athena spoke and Harry's head jerked up. "Would you like to live with us?"

Harry's jaw dropped and he nodded his head as quickly as he could. But then he stopped and a small frown formed on his features.

"What's wrong?" Athena asked.

"I'm human," Harry said. "How could I live down hewe?"

Athena chuckled. "With a wave of a trident, dear. Now hold on. This may tickle."

Harry watched as golden light wrapped around him and he closed his eyes as the slight pressure from his legs molding together became too much. He winced as a certain appendage began shrinking noticeably-as if it wasn't even there anymore.

"Harry? You can look," Athena said with a smile and Harry opened one eye. He gasped upon seeing a purple fin where his legs used to be.

"You mean I'm…"

"A merman," Triton said with a smile. "You're a merman."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A/N: I OWN Nothing!Sorry if I put people off by the baby talk last chapter. I figured that the Dursleys wouldn't encourage Harry to talk so he would have trouble speaking around the time most kids can speak clearly.

It'd been a month since Harry had fallen into the ocean and Triton was amazed at how simple a month could change a person. Whereas Harry spoke pronouncing his 'r's like 'w's, now he spoke clearly. Athena helping him with his diction certainly couldn't have hurt. The child was still timid around everyone but Ariel though.

"King Triton!" his little seahorse messenger arrived into the throne room where Triton was doing his musing. "A message from the Duke of the Lake of Black. The human who lives near there wishes to have a word."

Humans didn't have words with merfolk, Triton thought with a frown. "Lead the way," he told the seahorse and was led to the one room in the place where only the Queen and King were allowed into—with the exception of their bedroom. It was a way for Triton to communicate with the other merfolk who lived all over the world.

"Duke Current," Triton said as he got situated. He hated using the device, as it had been confiscated by a dark seawitch during the days of Triton's grandfather. But it was the only way to communicate with all the areas he ruled without sending out agents.

"King Triton," the duke nodded, "I have with me Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He has something he wishes to talk to you about privately."

As the duke left, Triton stared into the blue eyes of the professor and felt as though the human could look into his soul. It was unnerving.

"You recently adopted a young boy?" the human asked and Triton stiffened slightly. The human wanted to talk about Harry. What did he want with his son?

"Yes, a young boy," Triton nodded. "My wife dotes on him as if he were biologically ours. Forgive me but what does that have to do with anything?"

The human sighed, his long beard fluttering as the breath reached the ends of the hair. "I'm afraid the child is not safe there. He'd be safer off back with his aunt and uncle."

"I'm afraid I don't follow," Triton said, trying to throw the human off the scent.

"I know you have Harry Potter," Dumbledore said kindly, as if Triton had done something he hadn't meant to. "The boy really is safer with his aunt and uncle."

"Dumbledore, they left him to drown," Triton said sternly. "Besides, you can't undo a mermaid transformation. He's not going back."

"Maybe not now," Dumbledore stated kindly, with a benevolent smile. "But destiny has ways of making itself known."

The device cut off and Triton frowned at it. What was that old coot talking about?

0000

Another month had passed since the contact from Dumbledore and Triton had pushed the idea of someone coming to take his son out of his mind. No one had come, nothing had occurred so Triton wrote it off as an empty threat.

"Daddy!" Ariel shouted with glee as he approached, stopping whatever it was she was doing with Harry. Harry smiled timidly but didn't flinch away when Ariel grabbed his arm when she ran to greet Triton.

"How are you both doing?" Triton asked with a kind smile towards both his children. Harry had grown from the small guppy-like figure he had when he first arrived and now looked to be the size of a typical five-year-old mer-child.

"Fine!"

"Fine sir."

Triton smiled once more at the answers but it was odd being called 'sir' by his own child. Hopefully Harry would stop doing that once he felt more comfortable around them.

"I'm going to inspect the boundaries before nightfall. You two be good," Triton said as he left them, not knowing that Ariel had snuck up with him leaving Harry in her bubbles.

"Harry?" Athena smiled upon seeing the boy. It always was a treat to watch him interact with the girls and made Athena wistful that she had not been able to conceive a boy herself. "I was going to make some kelp cookies. Do you want to help?"

Harry nodded eagerly and the two of them went to the kitchen—where they promptly made a mess of things and the kitchen staff were greeted to a ruined work area and two laughing royals. The head chief shooed the two of them out and, after they got cleaned off, went to the bedroom that all the princesses shared.

"That's mine!" Arista could be heard shouting from inside. Harry gasped and swam behind Athena's tail.

"Don't worry," Athena smiled and patted Harry on the head. "Arista always gets like this around bedtime. She's not mad, only cranky."

"Oh!" Harry said with a smile. "Arista should get more sleep then."

Athena chuckled and shook her head. "Bedtime girls!" she called as she walked in, Harry behind her.

"Mom, sing us a song!" Attina asked with a big smile.

"Please Mom!"

"Yeah Mom, please!"

"Pretty please!"

Athena chuckled and sat down by the window, causing all her daughters to gather around her. She began singing her favorite song, the song that had been playing when she met her husband and that always played in the nursery for each of her daughters. She hadn't even noticed Ariel's arrival, that's how caught up in the song she was.

"Good night," she smiled at her eight children. Harry was sitting next to Ariel, chatting silently as the adults left the room.

"Come on!" Arista urged. "Let's follow them."

"Maybe we shouldn't," Harry said slowly. "I mean, it is bedtime."

"Oh don't be such a guppy," Alana shook her head in slight disgust. "I'm with Arista."

One by one, the daughters sided with each other; leaving Harry no choice but to follow them to make sure they didn't get into trouble. What if they had to sleep in the cupboard? Or the dungeons?

"Harry, come on!" Ariel smiled and grabbed Harry's arm to make sure he kept up. The trip to the surface was a surprise but Harry had to admit, he missed the fresh air. He missed the wind in his face and the smell of the salt air. But he'd never tell Ariel that. He loved having a family who didn't treat him like a freak—even if that was what he was.

Alana's sigh broke Harry out of his thoughts and he ducked just in time when Triton looked over at them. Not even thinking, he pulled Alana down but not even that was enough to keep Triton from discovering them.

_Ten times better than the Dursleys,_ Harry thought as he sat next to Athena with a smile on his face. However, the looming clouds he could do without.

"GET DOWN!" Triton shouted and all the merfolk who were on the surface dived as if their lives depended on it. All the instruments that had been played were abandoned.

"Harry!" Athena broke him out of his thoughts once more and Harry dove under the water to join his family. Well, that's what he thought. He had only just caught up to Triton when he realized that Athena wasn't with them.

"ATHENA!" Triton shouted but grabbed Harry and covered his ears. Despite that, Harry could still hear the sound of boat hitting rock, of the screams coming from the ocean and the slight scent of blood trickling in his nostrils. Harry wanted to throw up; he had some idea as to who's blood that was.

000

Triton sighed as he tucked his children into bed once more and brushed the hair out of Harry's eyes. How could he protect his son when he couldn't even protect his wife? That's when Triton decided on the most important decision of his life.

All visits to the surface were hereby illegal. All humans were not to be trusted.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A/N: I OWN NOTHING!

_A look into a Wizard's Mind_

Albus Dumbledore was worried, even if he didn't look it to his staff. How could he make sure that Harry came to embrace his heritage if Triton wouldn't let him? Harry needed to train his magical ability before it came to be too late. Untrained magic might reveal the existence of the magical world and if Harry was living under the water, it might reveal the existence of Triton's world too.

"Fawkes, what's an old man to do?" he sighed as he sat down. He, unlike most of the Wizarding world, had known Harry was with his Aunt and Uncle instead of disappearing into thin air. But when his wards sent out a distress signal one day two months ago, he grew worried. Worried enough to check in on the boy—without being seen of course. It was to his shock to find only one boy in the Dursley home.

Albus grew increasingly worried after that and began a search for Harry; out of fear that rouge Death Eaters had somehow gotten hold of him. But he dare not inform the Order. Minerva would have his head for one and she would not be alone. Remus Lupin would have no qualms of meeting him under the full moon if word reached his ears that it was under Albus' watch Harry had gone missing.

He kept hitting dead end after dead end until a bit of gossip from the lake reached his ears one morning. A couple of mer-teens had been gossiping and were eager to share with the elder wizard once he stuck his head into the water to understand them. It seemed as though the king of the mere people had adopted a young boy. A boy with raven black hair and emerald green eyes, and a curious cut on his forehead.

He had gone to the merchief at once and asked if there was some way to meet with the king of the merepeople. The chief agreed to the meeting but it wasn't as successful as Albus had hoped. Now the professor was at the same place he started but with one block of good news. Harry was still alive. There was still hope.

0000

_Back to Atlantica _

The next day saw a palace in mourning and an adoptive prince in a panic. Harry had heard the new decree that had been passed about surface visits and humans—leading him to hide in the first place he saw. A cupboard of some kind, but it was small and no one would find him.

He knew he wasn't wanted—Attina and Alana had made that well known that morning.

_"If it wasn't for you, Mom would still be here," the eldest merchild snipped as soon as Harry had woken up. _

_ "Attina!" Ariel gasped in shock as she swam into the room. _

_ "Attina's right," Alana nodded. "Nothing ever happened until he showed up. Then Mom dies in a boating accident!" _

_ "Stop it Alana!" Ariel narrowed her eyes. _

_ "I can't believe you're defending the little air breather, especially today of all days! You know what humans did to mom!" _

_ "Harry has fins!" _

_ "He wasn't born with them," Alana said smugly. Ariel turned to urge Harry to stick up for himself but Harry wasn't there. He swam out during the argument. _

Harry had hoped this would be better than the Dursleys. Athena had been really nice and pretty, and Triton was alright when he wasn't yelling at certain members of the court. But after that accident, nothing had been the same. The girls treated him differently and Harry didn't know why. He knew he was a freak but he couldn't think what else it could be.

"Who could ever love a freak like me?" he muttered under his breath as tears began to stream down his face. "Maybe the Dursleys were right."

His mum and dad had to have loved him, but they died before Harry would ever know if that was true. Athena was really nice to him, and Harry would have suspected that she loved him too but then she died. Everyone Harry loved died.

"Ariel!" Harry shot his head up in shock and realization. He couldn't stay here. If everyone Harry cared about died, then Ariel would be next and then Triton would really hate him and send him off back to the Dursleys who would probably really kill him if he showed back on their doorstep.

But he couldn't leave. The palace was crawling with well-wishers and grieving subjects for him to escape unnoticed. Being the adoptive son of a king who had only produced daughters had made him somewhat famous among the people of Atlantica and Harry didn't like it. He couldn't control being a boy just as he couldn't control Triton had only had girls.

Nervously, he traced the outline of his lightning bolt scar that he had ever since he was a baby. He liked the scar, but he wished he could remember how he got it. It was a part of him, and what other boys could claim that they had a lightning bolt scar?

"It's clear," he muttered to himself as he opened the cupboard just a tad in order to see if the hallway was empty. Now was his chance. If he was going to protect Ariel, he had to swim away as fast as he could. Making it out the window had been easy, to his surprise. Turning around, he could see the palace in all its glory.

"Bye Ariel. Goodbye Athena," he muttered his goodbyes and turned around to swim off before the guards spotted him and forced him back in the palace. If Attina and Alana and the others didn't want him around, he wasn't going to stick around to get kicked out. He didn't know where he was going to go but…

"What's this?" he gasped upon seeing a grotto halfway in his little adventure. Truthfully, he was glad he had found it, as he had no idea where else he could go before Triton found him. Harry wasn't the best swimmer and it was the perfect place to hide except for the fact that someone else was already there.

"What are you doing here!?" Harry exclaimed upon seeing Ariel in the grotto. Ugh! He was running away to protect his adoptive sister and now she was in the exact place he wanted to hide out. He saw Ariel holding something and his anger was suppressed by curiosity. "What's that?"

"I don't know," Ariel sighed as she held out the object and put it on a shelf. "I found it on my way here."

"Why did you follow me?" Harry asked, his eyes still locked on the object Ariel had set down. It was really pretty, whatever it was.

"We've been together for two months," Ariel stated, pulling Harry out of his thoughts. "I think I know you by now."

"You should be with your family," Harry sighed as he looked down at his purple fins, the ones that had replaced his legs those many months ago. He could hear Ariel sigh but flinched at the hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, you idiot. You are my family!"

Unexpectedly, Ariel wrapped him up into a big hug that Harry found himself actually enjoying. Until she began hitting him.

"What-are-oof-you-ugh-doing!"

"That's for running away! Daddy's been worried sick about you and Alana's been crying nonstop and Attina's been snapping at everyone and Arista won't stop screaming and Adella won't stop pacing and—"

"Breathe!" Harry commanded his best friend. Did she mean what she said? Were they all worried about him? "But what about what Alana said this morning?"

"She didn't mean it," Ariel said with a smile, one that looked forced to a trained eye but Harry was not one of those people. "Come back with me. Please?"

Harry sighed but nodded, earning himself another hug from Ariel; one that did not catch him by surprise. "Hey Ariel?"

"Yeah Harry?" Ariel turned around to look at him.

"What if this was our little hiding spot? A place no one else knew about?" Harry suggested. "I could help you find more of those objects."

"Really?" Ariel grinned another forced smile, this one Harry caught. "That's a great idea!"

"By the way, how did you know I'd be here?" Harry asked as he swam out of the grotto, Ariel closing the rock door behind them as to avoid alarming those who lived around the area. It wouldn't do for their hide out to be discovered before they had a chance to use it.

"I'm just that smart. It's an older sister's intuition." Ariel said smugly

"You're a month older than me!" Harry almost shouted in boyish indignation, his emerald eyes glinting in relief. There was one member of the royal family who still wanted him around.

"Don't push it," Ariel stated and they both swam off.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

* * *

A/n: I am so sorry about leaving this so long un-updated. Would you believe me if I said that it was because I've been busy with a little pet project of mine? I'm starting a Disney Blog, where I review Disney movies from the eyes of an adult (which is what I am after all. Don't look at me like that!). I'm going to post the link in my profile so you guys can go and view it. I would love it if you guys commented and/or gave recommendations. I have a list of what I want to start on but I've only one post so far.

Okay, I'll leave it there so you don't get a page long author's note.

PS: I will accept recommendations for post via PM if you so desire! Just leave the reviews for the actual story please!

* * *

The castle spent nearly a month mourning the death of Queen Athena, and in that month Harry and Ariel had filled five shelves of their hidden grotto with human objects while hiding their new hobby from the king and the other princesses.

"Ariel, that's a fork," Harry said one morning as they began their collection onto the sixth shelf. Harry had lost some of his enthusiasm of the collection but Ariel was the only member of the family who didn't hate him. He didn't want to mess that up in any way, so he stayed with her; teaching her the names of the objects she found and the correct way to use them.

"Oh!" Ariel gazed at it in wonder. "What do you do with it?"

"Eat with it."

For Poseidon's sake, the Dursleys may not have let him use a fork to eat with but they still ate in the same room as him. That's how he knew what it was for.

"Really?" Ariel continued to stare at it as Harry shook his head. Honestly, his sister was a moron at times. Then he stopped just as soon as the word sister entered his head. Harry had never had a sister, and at times he wished he had. Now that he had a sister, he wouldn't trade her for the world.

"Harry, you okay?" Ariel stared at her little brother. She hadn't forgotten the week her mother died, though many members of the royal council kept trying to play it off as if her mother was simply on vacation. One of the swordfish guards actually muttered about her mother going to join the humans while Ariel was around and in earshot. But she remembered another thing from that week, the time Harry had tried to run away. It worried her that he could possibly try it again.

"Yeah," Harry quickly smiled and brushed his hair over his scar. He still liked it but people muttered whenever they saw it. Harry didn't like the mutters and so didn't want to draw attention to himself—well more than he got anyway.

"Come on! Daddy's going to get worried and then he'll send the governess out for us," Ariel rolled her eyes at the word 'governess' and Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes as well. Their governess was weird and her sidekick was creepy! As Harry swam out of the grotto, something caught his eye as it gleamed off of the walls due to the position of the sun.

"What is it?" Ariel asked as Harry swam down to get it. Harry looked at it in interest, not answering Ariel at first. There was a man and a woman in the picture, two complete strangers and yet Harry somehow felt as if he knew them. The man had hair that stuck out like Harry's did and the woman's eyes were the same shape as his.

"Harry?"

"Nothing," Harry responded to Ariel's question. "It's nothing."

000

"What's this?"

"It's another fork, Ariel," Harry sighed the following week and resisted the urge to roll his eyes once more. It seemed that almost every time Ariel found a human object, she forgot what it was called.

"Oh, right. I knew that!"

"Sure you did," Harry chuckled.

"I did so!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"HA!"

"Oh Harry!" Ariel groaned as her little brother turned over from his laughter. "Honestly you can be so immature."

"This from the girl a month older than me?"

"At least I am older," Ariel muttered but Harry pretended not to hear her. Another object had caught his attention, and it seemed to be another photo of the same man and woman.

"You have the attention of a seahorse," Ariel teased but swam up to see what was in her little brother's hands. She grew silence at seeing the woman in the picture. "She, she looks like mom."

Harry looked at Ariel quickly, as if he was concerned that she was going to run off this time. "You don't think Athena would join the humans, would you?"

"It's just, that woman looks like her," Ariel reiterated her argument. "I wonder what her name is. Maybe she was a mermaid too! But she fell in love with a human and she found a way to earn those weird shaped fins."

"Legs," Harry corrected her in an absentminded tone. "And you're rambling."

No, the woman was more beautiful than Athena had been despite the photo being only in black and white. Yet Harry did not utter that around Ariel, for he knew what her mother meant to her. What she had meant to him.

"Look!" Ariel gasped, pointing to a shadow crossing the ocean's surface. "Let's go!"

"Wait! Your father said we're not allowed to the surface!"

"What Daddy doesn't know won't get us in trouble," Ariel shot back. "Are you a mer-man or a guppy?"

"Shut it," Harry grumbled but followed Ariel up to the surface anyway. Gulping in breaths of the salty air, he swam slowly to the vessel, keeping Ariel behind him in case they needed to get away quickly.

"Are you sure about this?" a snarky voice broke the silence of the ocean. "Does he really think the Potter brat just decided to become a mermaid?"

"The headmaster is rarely wrong Severus," a severe yet feminine sounding voice retorted, hiding the gasp Ariel had emitted from hearing Harry's last name. "Albus is convinced that young Harry belongs at Hogwarts when he turns eleven."

"Yet he sends us to make sure the brat gets to the castle six years ahead of schedule? Minerva, you know just as well as I do that our schedules do not allow for much time sitting in a boat looking for wayward children just because the Headmaster asks us to."

"Severus, the staff of Hogwarts is honor-bound to assist the Headmaster in whatever he needs to be assisted in without question. You will do well to remember it."

Harry exchanged eye contact with Ariel, nervously trying to determine whether or not they should leave. However, the people on the boat started to speak once more and Harry became still. He even tried to keep his breathing quiet in order to prevent the adults from finding him.

"Do you really think this will be successful?" the man asked.

"If young Harry has been turned into a meremaid, he will still have any curiosity he inherited from James and Lily," the woman replied.

"Who are James and Lily?" Ariel whispered as softly as she could.

"No clue," Harry whispered back. "Ariel, get out of here."

"Not without you."

It was Harry's rotten luck that got them discovered. You see, the two humans had a fishing net draped out of their boat to try to catch fish (Harry could only assume) and just as he was getting ready to leave, he found himself entangled in it.

"HARRY!" Ariel shouted as the two humans lifted Harry up in the net.

"Why it's Harry Potter!" the woman exclaimed. However, then she looked over the side of the boat where Ariel was still as could be from fright. "Severus, what did Albus say about witnesses?"

"Obliviate them, I believe," the man stated. Ariel didn't like the man; his hair was dirty as if he hadn't had a bath in ages. However, her brief moment of paralysis was enough for the man to draw a stick from his pocket and point it at her.

"Severus, would you do it?" the woman asked. "I'm a little busy."

Ariel could see that she was building a container of some kind and putting Harry into it. Harry was at least giving a good fight.

"Obliviate," the man said in almost a lazy manner and Ariel stared at the boat in confusion. Why was she up at the surface when her father forbade it from happening? Turning around, she dove underwater, not hearing Harry's shouts for her.

After all, she had no idea the importance the boy had recently held in her heart. He was just a stranger and she had a family who needed her.

"What an interesting thing-a-bob," she muttered as she dove down to collect a fork that had drifted out of her grotto.


End file.
